Living and studying in a new foreign country will definitely require some adjustments to your regular lifestyle. Every time you come to a new country it is easy to notice the differences in everyday life from your home. Well, studying in Sweden is no exception.
Spending lots of time in Swedish classrooms was definitely not an experience I was used to or where I expected to see so many differences from my university life in Canada.
So here are some interesting things to know before stepping into that Swedish classroom:
- Teachers usually go by their first names. There is no Dr., Mr./Mrs. or Professor. Usually students have a much more casual and relaxed relationship with their professors and go on a first name basis.
- Questions are always encouraged. There is no need to sit there wondering what is going on or what this person is talking about because you don’t need to hold your question until the end of the lecture!
- Discussions are frequent. It doesn’t matter if it was started by the teacher or by the student, side conversations and discussions are encouraged. It has happened where the whole lecture has been taken over by a some debate between students and professors.
- There are many different professors for one class. You may have 10 or plus different teachers for only one class. Each professor teachers on their specialities as opposed to having one professor teach on the subjects they are not familiar with.
- There are breaks every hour. In Swedish classrooms the idea is that when students have a break for 10 minutes every hour they focus more during the lesson.
- The room is usually below 18 degrees Celsius. Studies have shown that students are more likely to stay awake if the room is cold. At least this is what I was told when I was freezing in class all winter. So make sure to wear a sweater!
- There are not always lectures every day. A lot of the time for class is spent either in group work or working on your own. Swedish education is much more based on individual responsibility. If you don’t do the readings you won’t learn anything.
Lecture hall and study area from The Stockholm School of Economics. Photos By: Wrote (CC BY)
While it may seem that studying is the same all over the world, there are many little peculiarities you will notice everyday when you arrive to Sweden. It is probably the little differences from your home country you will notice the most. The best way to cope with all the changes is to enjoy them. There is nothing better than a 10 minute fika break from class every hour to brighten up your day!
